Merry Christmas 2018

Amazingly enough this is the sixth Christmas since I bought my house! So just 24 more years of debt and then I will own it :-)

Growing up in NY Christmas traditions for us involved going into Manhattan and seeing the decorated store windows of large department stores like Macy's and Saks 5th Avenue. I saw on the news that this year was Lord and Taylor's last Christmas season and the building will be taken over by some kind of staffing company.

At Macy's when we were little we would visit Santa and see the amazing workshop that was designed every year featuring elves working and a large train display. That would be followed up by a puppet show in a small theater. I know the display has changed a lot since I was a child; much of the old display has been swapped out for tv screens that kids can interact with instead of just looking around I suppose. I don't know if the puppet show is still there but I hope it is.

We would also fight the city crowds to see the tree at Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and the famed toy store FAO Schwartz.

Each year even though we did the same thing there were changes in the decorations and it was always different. The city is a pretty awesome place to be around Christmas time. The smell of chestnuts and roasted peanuts fills the air and sometimes if you are lucky you will get a flurry of snow, the perfect amount to make it pretty but not stick and cause a mess. I mean also be prepared to be buried in a sea of humanity balancing between people who are in way too much of a hurry and other people who are going way too slow. You will be crammed on to sidewalks where there is no space to move side to side and you have to let the crowd take you.

This yearly tradition was so important to us that the year Meg was in a car accident we rented a wheel chair for her to use so we could go into Manhattan together. It was a struggle for sure. While most of the streets have handicapped ramps a lot of those ramps are in bad shape ( I accidentally almost dumped Meg at least twice) also that sea of humanity I mentioned earlier. They were standing in front of the ramps waiting to cross in the opposite direction so even finding space to get back on the sidewalk was challenging. But this year also lead to one of my favorite memories of all at Christmas and certainly on the Long Island Rail Road, LIRR. We were getting on the train to come home. Certain train cars  have reserved seats for handicapped. The seat bottom can flip up to allow space for wheelchairs, walkers, and carriages. We finally found a train car that 1. had enough room for us to get on and 2. was a handicapped train car. We got on and the people sitting in the handicapped seats did not get up. Which we were not fighting with them on because we had room to be in and Meg was sitting in the chair it just meant we were in open area where the doors were. Well these two boys (and by boys I mean probably my age at the time so mid/early 20s) got on and looked around. They saw Meg in the wheelchair in the doorway where there is standing room and the people all sitting in the handicap seats. Now these boys were apparently at the perfect level of intoxication for the moment. Any more intoxicated and they may not have noticed any less and they may have just gone about their night like we had accepted. But not them. They were drunk enough to lose that inhibition of just keeping ones mouth shut and minding their own business. So they looked from Meg to the handicapped seats and said (paraphrase) "Those seats are handicapped seats what is wrong with you. Move. She is in a f-----g wheel chair. You can stand." And the people got up, we pushed Meg into the space now clear because we could raise the seats, and the boys wished us a Merry Christmas and went on to find themselves some place to sit.

Not every year but several times we also went to Dyker Heights in Brooklyn to see some of the most amazing decorations as an entire neighborhood works to out decorate their neighbor.

Now that we are in TN a trip to Manhattan would be a bit far so we have new yearly traditions. We drove out to Lynchburg to see the Jack Daniel's distillery and the "Barrel Tree" and then spent half the day walking around the town looking in small craft and antique shops.

We drove back to Nashville and walked around the Gaylord Omni Hotel and Convention Center to see the beautiful light displays in the Delta, Cascades, and Magnolia lobby. And then we went to the Wilson County Fairgrounds to see the Dancing Lights of Christmas. If you are near Nashville this is so worth it! Dancing Lights The Dancing Lights are over an hour of music that plays over the radio while you are completely immersed in a synchronized light show. It is beautiful. 

Then I came home to my house and got to enjoy my own Christmas decorations. Which take a really really long time to put up so that on one day I can have family over to enjoy the decorations :-) Well accept for outside lots of people could see that as they drive by and there is part of me that thinks back to years of seeing the windows in New York City or the decorations on the houses in Dyker Heights Brooklyn and this is my mini version of their work. 

I do want to add more outside and I think I slowly will. 

My goal is also to eventually have decorations in every room of my first floor. In my living room I have a display around the fireplace.

I also have Meghan's Nutcrackers, Meghan's Santa collection, and a variety of snow globes that my Mom has collected over the years, my Russian Nesting doll collection, a variety of Penguins cause they are awesome, and a beautiful angel display with a Church and Noel and Peace, and our Nativity display from Naples, Italy.

Each piece was handmade and has amazing detail on them.

I know some people set the Nativity up immediately with the complete Holy Family but we have always left out Jesus until Christmas Day.

In my sitting room I have my tree and Christmas Village. Now my village is a lot of pieces that I have bought at Good Will or as end of season displays. As a result many don't have boxes and some had little delicate pieces that have broken off. So I set up myself a work station of amazing awesome loctite and multiple sizes of batteries (at the end of each season I take batteries out). Tip tried to help, and by help I mean got in my way at every step and knocked the batteries and glue off my table whenever I put them down. 

It took me two days to get everything out of storage, set up, batteries, glued, and plugged in and I think it came out well.

And of course our Christmas Tree.

Thank you for checking out my Christmas decorations and have a Merry Christmas I wish anyone reading this a joyous holiday season and a healthy and Happy New Year. I know this is a fun post about decorations but the most important thing about these decorations or the traditions that we have had or still continue is that they are spent with loved ones- friends and family. Whether it was going into the city or spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Days surrounded by people who loved us the holidays are best spent with others. 

Merry Christmas!

Mystic Aquarium

I realized at New Years that I had a bunch of blog posts I started and never finished. I think it is because I am frustrated at not having moved yet but why pout. I have a few adventures to share :-) 

This is from a late summer trip.

After seeing this video on the news of a Beluga whale playing with some kids at the Mystic Aquarium my Mom and I decided we were due for a road trip.

As far as road trips go this was a short one at only 2.5 hours. We left the house early so that we would get to the Aquarium around 10:30-11. The drive was easy since it was basically take 95 north and two left turns.  We entered and came to the Beluga whale enclosure first. At that time though the whales were eating so we decided to continue to the other exhibits and return to the whales.

The first stop was my personal favorite: Penguins, African Penguins to be specific. And these little fellows did not disappoint.

Now little known fact not only are these penguins adorable but they are also artists. The trainers apply a non-toxic paint to the feet of the penguins and allow them to wander on canvas leaving behind adorable little foot prints. They use several different paint combinations for the paintings to layer foot prints. Each one is obviously unique because the birds are just wandering at their own will.

Photos from MysticAquarium website.

And the artist at work.  :-)

The prints are framed and available for sale on the website or at the aquarium for $199.00.

Right now I am planning where I would put one in my house. Once I am settled I will certainly get one. $199 sounds like a lot for a 16x20 but the uniqueness and fact that it goes to conservation efforts I think makes it worth the price.

If anyone sees this and is interested here is a link to the website with more information about the paintings and the aquarium's many conservation programs.  http://www.mysticaquarium.org/visit/penguin-paintings

From there we went past some seals and sea lions and a special exhibit of adorable little birds who tried to climb into the pocket of my cargo shorts. Then we reached the fish area which I usually went through very quickly when I was younger at the Coney Island Aquarium but this time we took our time and looked around. I think the fact that this was a smaller Aquarium allowed us to be more relaxed since it wasn't so overwhelming about having to see everything. Anyway, we saw the amazing jelly fish in all kinds of brilliant colors. They are very peaceful to watch swimming around.

Then we moved on to a tank that had perhaps the cutest little fish I have ever seen. It is called a Scooter Benny or synchiropus ocellatus. I mean his face when he floated up and looked straight at us was adorable.

We stayed a while at the sea horses, another underwater creature I could watch for hours. I mean watching them makes me really think it would be worth all the expense and work to have a salt water tank. Then I could always just look over and watch them, from the way they flap their tiny little fins to the way they wrap their tails around the sea grass to hold themselves steady. Just watching them makes me smile.

Actually the way they flap their fins makes me think of them as the Hummingbird of the sea. It's so fast and adorable.

Then we moved on to the Beluga whale tank. They had three different viewing areas of the tank and we settled in the middle area. Juno the whale was in full form, he swam back and forth between the three areas. Juno was definitely in a playful mood. My first video of him shows him swimming by the middle section to the right. You will see his body jerk at the end because he scared some little kids. He really is pretty funny and definitely took a few passes first to find his favorite audience.

Here is Juno after another few passes stopping to say hi to some kids to my right. Two thing are clear he is very smart and playful. I love the reaction of the kids and adults watching him. They really are amazing to watch. 

He put on a nice show of his skills as he flipped and swam upside down past the crowd. I had been there for a while and he had scanned several times so I appreciated his nice little show. I really do think he looks for cameras and children.

A trip to Dyker Heights Brooklyn.

I remember when we were young driving into Brooklyn and seeing these amazing beautiful homes decorated with life sized figurines all celebrating Christmas. I remember bits and pieces but my favorite house had life sized figures dressed in tuxedos and fancy dresses as guests at a Christmas party. Other houses had full sized choral singers and toy soldiers and just a wonderful array of lights. Some houses were subdued and classy others were over the top and eye grabbing.

So yesterday when I picked up my Mom from the train station I asked if she would like to take a drive back to Dyker Heights, since this is our last Christmas in NY, and see how the decorations have changed or if they are still the same. She was game so we went home and relaxed for a bit to allow traffic to finish clearing from the commute before we drove in.

Here are some of the highlights from our trip:

This stunning brick home had a giant Nutcracker guarding the front door as snow flakes dotted the building.

In this house Santa Claus looks out from the upstairs window as people walk and drive by enjoying the sights.

Speaking of Santa here he is climbing a ladder up to the roof top of the house on the corner of 86th and 13th avenue (I think)

For the next house I had to pull over and get out to get a picture. In their front yard was a light up pond complete with penguins and swans.  :-)

Here are some of the life sized figures that captured my attention as a child: toy soldiers guard this front door lit up beautifully by classic white light lined garland.

This house not only had toy soldiers but angels playing trumpets.

Here was a simply decorated house using lights to mimic garland and red bows. While strings of white lights brought out the architecture of not only the house but the multi-tiered yard.

I took a  picture of this house because the front nativity and the figures on the porch are the old fashioned plastic lawn decorations that I love. I prefer them over the new blow up decorations, probably because they remind me of when I was little and everyone had them.

This house is a Christmas wonderland with a giant Nutcracker, toy soldiers, an angel choir, angels playing trumpets, and two happy snowman.

There were so many different houses some that pictures would not do justice like this next house with a carousel, spinning toy soldier, and Christmas music.

Then I took video of several houses as I drove by to show all the figures lining the fences.

It was a nice night filled with holiday cheer. Lots of people lined the sidewalks looking down block after block of decorations.

Thank you to the people of Dyker Heights who probably have as much fun with this as the people who enjoy their displays.

Merry Christmas!